Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is showing positive signs of recovery, with February recording the highest daily tourist arrivals (over 10,000) since the COVID-19 pandemic. This surge contributed to a total of over 200,000 visitors for the month, marking the third consecutive month exceeding 200,000 arrivals.
Key Highlights:
- February 2024: Witnessed the highest daily tourist arrivals (over 10,000) post-pandemic.
- Monthly Arrivals: Over 200,000 tourists visited Sri Lanka in February, surpassing the total arrivals for the entire month in 2023 (107,639).
- Year-to-Date (YTD) Arrivals: As of February 27th, 2024, Sri Lanka has received 412,737 tourists, exceeding the total arrivals for the whole month of February 2023.
- Leading Source Markets: Russia took the top spot with 29,728 arrivals, followed by India (27,744), the UK (19,601), Germany (15,207), and China (14,187).
- YTD Source Markets: India remains the top source market for 2024 with 62,143 arrivals, followed by Russia (60,887), the UK (36,266), Germany (28,800), and China (25,698).
- Ambitious Target: Sri Lanka Tourism aims to welcome 2.3 million tourists and generate over $4.5 billion in revenue in 2024.
Challenges:
- While February showed a significant increase, it still fell short of the targeted 238,614 arrivals for the month.
- Compared to the pre-pandemic benchmark year of 2018, February 2024 arrivals remain 13% lower.
Looking Forward:
Sri Lanka Tourism hopes to maintain the momentum through their ongoing global campaign “You’ll come back for more,” promoting the island nation in key tourism source markets.